1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



29 



for a good stand. I liave seen splendid results 

 with 10 lbs. per acre; but we prefer to sow 15 lbs. 

 Most people sow 20 to 25 lbs., and there are a 

 few yet who persist in sowing 30 lbs. of seed per 

 acre. 



One grower here demonstrated that buckwheat 

 pays. He disposed of his crop, grown on 40 

 acres, for $2000. The enclosed photograph 

 shows a field of Japanese buckwheat which we 

 put in with a press-drill on plowed wheat stubble 

 July 29. It was photographed August 21, aver- 

 age height 34 inches. 



After cutting the buckwheat and removing it 

 from the ground we sowed the ground to winter 

 wheat again, using a press-drill. This wheat 

 now looks exceptionally well. 



Hastings, Neb., Oct. 1. 



SECOND-HAND CANS VS. NEW. 



From the Standpoint of one of our Lead- 

 ing Commission Men. 



BY R. A. BURNETT. 



The letter of D. Everett Lyon, on page 1245, 

 Oct. 15, and your editorial thereon, have been 

 read with much interest. So far as Mr. Lyon's 

 complaint is concerned, it would have no stand- 

 ing, shall we say, in a court of equity, for the 

 reason that the package nowadays is included 

 with the sale of the contents. The practice of 

 charging for packages that would be used again 

 for the same purpose has become practically ob- 

 solete. F"or instance, the tub or package contain- 

 ing butter from the dairy used to be returned to 

 the dairy after the contents had been used, or else 

 the dairy received a compensation for it; but now 

 when the package is emptied of its contents the 

 owner may use it for some other purpose, or offer 

 it for sale to some one else who may be able 

 to use it for some other purpose than butter. 

 Sometimes it is again used for butter, as, since 

 the introduction of paraffined paper, the butter 

 does not soak into the package as formerly, and 

 there is, therefore, a less tendency to rancidity. 



However, as a general thing we may conclude 

 that the re-use of packages for the same purpose 

 as first used for is the exception and not the rule. 



Then, again, honey is a delicate commodity, 

 the flavor of which is easily removed by injudi- 

 cious and careless manipulation; and, pray, what 

 is honey without its honey flavor.? In my judg- 

 ment it would be simply a neutral sweet, which 

 we often find to be the case where honey has 

 been taken from the comb before it was ripened, 

 or before it had injected into it what a witty 

 friend of ours called " the bouquet." It is true 

 that there are a few kinds of honey that have very 

 little aroma, and as a consequence they sell for a 

 lower price than honey with flavor, although in 

 every other respect it is of high grade. 



Tin cans should not be used a second time for 

 marketing purposes, for the following reasons: 

 Water should never reach the inside of a tin pack- 

 age that is to contain honey, especially one that 

 is provided with a screw top or other small open- 

 ing, for there is danger of the water not being 

 thoroughly removed by heat. To put the cans 

 on a stove, or where they can have dry heat, may 

 melt the solder and the can will then open at the 

 seams. A can should be simply shaken, and any 

 matter that may be loose in that way may be re- 

 moved, and then the honey put in without any 

 water having touched the can, inside or out. 

 After the cover has been securely fastened on, 

 the honey may be removed from the outside of 

 the can by water, after which the surface should 

 be dried with a cloth and exposed to dry air long 

 enough to evaporate that which the cloth had not 

 taken up before being cased. Then if the can, 

 after being emptied of its honey, has the top or 

 cover put back on so that no dust or other defil- 

 ing matter may get in, it can be used for honey 

 again — that is, providing the honey that is again 

 to fill the can is of the came color, for there will 

 remain a small quantity of the first filling, despite 

 the most careful effort to remove all. 



Some years ago a large bakery had several hun- 

 dred cases of the square tin cans that they wanted 

 to dispose of, and sought our help in so doing. 

 At first blush we thought these cans ought to be 



JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT THIRTY-FOUR INCHES HIGH IN A LITTLE OVER THREE WEEKS FROM THE 



TIME THE SEED WAS SOWN. 



